.NET compact framework has been ported to Symbian OS (http://www.redfivelabs.com/). If .NET as a 'closed' platform can be ported to this platform, I can't see any reason why it cannot be done for Android.
MonoDroid is awailable for preview. I think that will bridge the gap. However, MonoDroid could be a costly option for development. Their other development tools costs anywhere between $199 and $4000 (The MonoTouch .. iPhone dev tool ... is priced between $399 and $3999). If people develop apps with these tools, they need a very strong business model to see some returns.
A modified port of Mono is also entirely possible.
Since this is one of the first links on Google when search for Android and .net support, it is only fitting to post this here.
The mono project is working on a SDK to develop Android applications using CIL languages such as C#. The down side is it will be a commercial product. monodroid
.NET compact framework has been ported to Symbian OS (http://www.redfivelabs.com/). If .NET as a 'closed' platform can be ported to this platform, I can't see any reason why it cannot be done for Android.
Yes, it will be possible and it won't be that difficult. All what's needed at this point to start with is some kind of converter that will turn MSIL into Dalvik bytecode. Since both formats are open-sourced and well documented, there won't be any problem with it.
So, writing Android applications in C# or VB.NET will be possible, question is how much of .NET framework standard libraries will be supported. But that's another issue.
Oscar Reyes wrote:
I'm pretty sure if google hand ANY interest in .net, they would've design something while Android was in the first stages, not now when they are in production stages. I don't mean it is not possible, what I'm saying is they're not interested. Maybe in mmm hhhh 10 yrs.
Actually what they've already designed is very compatible with Java and .NET
They can't do everything at once, but if you look into Android SDK, there is a tool called dx. This tool converts Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode, so in other words, you can run programs written in Java on Android with no effort today. Now the same tool is needed for .NET.
Considering how similar .NET and Java are, it's really a matter of time.
ddimitrov wrote:
The .Net->Java->Dalvik translation can be done even now (http://dev.mainsoft.com/), but I think you underestimate the lack of .Net libraries. Of course somebody can port Mono, but it's definitely a non-trivial effort.
No need to port Mono. Android already has VM and some basic API. All what's needed is CIL->Dalvik converter and tiny .NET wrapper for Android API (and maybe some basic implementation of some standard .NET classes). That's it.
Update: .NET already works on Android - you will need product called Monodroid (http://monodroid.net) as stated above.
In my opinion, it would be technically possible to convert the CLI Bytecode to Dalvik, and to write wrapper classes for some core features such as Collections, File access, etc., even it would be hard work.
But a .NET desktop application ran on android would feel alien, as it would have a classic Windows-Like GUI which is not very usable on a touch device. If, on the other hand, you were to code an android-like GUI in .NET, you would need another set of wrappers (notice that wrapping is just the other way round opposed to the wrappers mentioned above).
I'm not sure if a .NET mobile application would feel native on android, but I'd guess it wouldn't.
Maybe you're interestend in another approach: You can write your application in the Java language. You can then compile it to .NET via Microsoft J# (I know it's discontinued but you can still download and use it) and use the same Java code on android. Again, that's for the core classes aka business logic and again you would have to write tow GUIs. Maybe you can tages J2ME as well, which you will not be able to do if you use .NET.
There is Mono for Android, the .NET framework ported for Android. And there is MonoDroid, a development stack for using C# and the core .NET APIs to develop Android-based applications. MonoDroid Preview 1 has been released a couple of days ago.
A modified port of Mono is also entirely possible.
You're more likely to see an Android implementation of Silverlight. Microsoft rep has confirmed that it's possible, vs. the iPhone where the rep said it was problematic.
But a version of the .Net framework is possible. Just need someone to care about it that much :)
But really, moving from C# to Java isn't that big of a deal and considering the drastic differences between the two platforms (PC vs. G1) it seems unlikely that you'd be able to get by with one codebase for any app that you wanted to run on both.
.NET and Mono are great environments, with many tools and and excellent skills base of people who know how to use them.
I think Mono has the opportunity to be the mobile cross-platform development environment of choice, seeing as they are the only alternative to Objective-C on the iPhone and should be portable to Android, and .NET is already on Windows Mobile.
I'm really hoping to see a solid implementation of Mono on Android, with wrappers for the Android API as with Monotouch, and would be prepared to pay for it since I'm not in a position to do it myself.
A modified port of Mono is also entirely possible.
In my opinion, it would be technically possible to convert the CLI Bytecode to Dalvik, and to write wrapper classes for some core features such as Collections, File access, etc., even it would be hard work.
But a .NET desktop application ran on android would feel alien, as it would have a classic Windows-Like GUI which is not very usable on a touch device. If, on the other hand, you were to code an android-like GUI in .NET, you would need another set of wrappers (notice that wrapping is just the other way round opposed to the wrappers mentioned above).
I'm not sure if a .NET mobile application would feel native on android, but I'd guess it wouldn't.
Maybe you're interestend in another approach: You can write your application in the Java language. You can then compile it to .NET via Microsoft J# (I know it's discontinued but you can still download and use it) and use the same Java code on android. Again, that's for the core classes aka business logic and again you would have to write tow GUIs. Maybe you can tages J2ME as well, which you will not be able to do if you use .NET.
A modified port of Mono is also entirely possible.
Yes, it will be possible and it won't be that difficult. All what's needed at this point to start with is some kind of converter that will turn MSIL into Dalvik bytecode. Since both formats are open-sourced and well documented, there won't be any problem with it.
So, writing Android applications in C# or VB.NET will be possible, question is how much of .NET framework standard libraries will be supported. But that's another issue.
Oscar Reyes wrote:
I'm pretty sure if google hand ANY interest in .net, they would've design something while Android was in the first stages, not now when they are in production stages. I don't mean it is not possible, what I'm saying is they're not interested. Maybe in mmm hhhh 10 yrs.
Actually what they've already designed is very compatible with Java and .NET
They can't do everything at once, but if you look into Android SDK, there is a tool called dx. This tool converts Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode, so in other words, you can run programs written in Java on Android with no effort today. Now the same tool is needed for .NET.
Considering how similar .NET and Java are, it's really a matter of time.
ddimitrov wrote:
The .Net->Java->Dalvik translation can be done even now (http://dev.mainsoft.com/), but I think you underestimate the lack of .Net libraries. Of course somebody can port Mono, but it's definitely a non-trivial effort.
No need to port Mono. Android already has VM and some basic API. All what's needed is CIL->Dalvik converter and tiny .NET wrapper for Android API (and maybe some basic implementation of some standard .NET classes). That's it.
Update: .NET already works on Android - you will need product called Monodroid (http://monodroid.net) as stated above.
There is Mono for Android, the .NET framework ported for Android. And there is MonoDroid, a development stack for using C# and the core .NET APIs to develop Android-based applications. MonoDroid Preview 1 has been released a couple of days ago.
.NET for Android seems like a real possibility to me. There is news that Microsoft will release proper Silverlight for Android- Never underestimate the advantages to Microsoft for putting the boot into Apple. A smartphone that is faster, more feature rich, faster development lifecycle, impressive hardware, Flash & Silverlight as a standard installable.
Microsoft has a vested interest in improving Android, and at the same time, applications will be devloped for Silverlight on Android will also work on Windows Phone 7 OS with multi-touch, GPS, etc., etc.
Miguel de Icaza's announced on his blog on the 17th of Feb 2010 that they are starting work on mono for android which will be called MonoDroid.
This will be similar to MonoTouch on the iphone but for android instead.
It will provide binding to the android UI, so apps will look and feel live native android apps. This will require you to write an android specific UI.
You will however be able to reuse you existing lower level libraries without the need to recompile.
MonoDroid is awailable for preview. I think that will bridge the gap. However, MonoDroid could be a costly option for development. Their other development tools costs anywhere between $199 and $4000 (The MonoTouch .. iPhone dev tool ... is priced between $399 and $3999). If people develop apps with these tools, they need a very strong business model to see some returns.
.NET and Mono are great environments, with many tools and and excellent skills base of people who know how to use them.
I think Mono has the opportunity to be the mobile cross-platform development environment of choice, seeing as they are the only alternative to Objective-C on the iPhone and should be portable to Android, and .NET is already on Windows Mobile.
I'm really hoping to see a solid implementation of Mono on Android, with wrappers for the Android API as with Monotouch, and would be prepared to pay for it since I'm not in a position to do it myself.
In my opinion, it would be technically possible to convert the CLI Bytecode to Dalvik, and to write wrapper classes for some core features such as Collections, File access, etc., even it would be hard work.
But a .NET desktop application ran on android would feel alien, as it would have a classic Windows-Like GUI which is not very usable on a touch device. If, on the other hand, you were to code an android-like GUI in .NET, you would need another set of wrappers (notice that wrapping is just the other way round opposed to the wrappers mentioned above).
I'm not sure if a .NET mobile application would feel native on android, but I'd guess it wouldn't.
Maybe you're interestend in another approach: You can write your application in the Java language. You can then compile it to .NET via Microsoft J# (I know it's discontinued but you can still download and use it) and use the same Java code on android. Again, that's for the core classes aka business logic and again you would have to write tow GUIs. Maybe you can tages J2ME as well, which you will not be able to do if you use .NET.
Miguel de Icaza's announced on his blog on the 17th of Feb 2010 that they are starting work on mono for android which will be called MonoDroid.
This will be similar to MonoTouch on the iphone but for android instead.
It will provide binding to the android UI, so apps will look and feel live native android apps. This will require you to write an android specific UI.
You will however be able to reuse you existing lower level libraries without the need to recompile.
.NET for Android seems like a real possibility to me. There is news that Microsoft will release proper Silverlight for Android- Never underestimate the advantages to Microsoft for putting the boot into Apple. A smartphone that is faster, more feature rich, faster development lifecycle, impressive hardware, Flash & Silverlight as a standard installable.
Microsoft has a vested interest in improving Android, and at the same time, applications will be devloped for Silverlight on Android will also work on Windows Phone 7 OS with multi-touch, GPS, etc., etc.
In my opinion, it would be technically possible to convert the CLI Bytecode to Dalvik, and to write wrapper classes for some core features such as Collections, File access, etc., even it would be hard work.
But a .NET desktop application ran on android would feel alien, as it would have a classic Windows-Like GUI which is not very usable on a touch device. If, on the other hand, you were to code an android-like GUI in .NET, you would need another set of wrappers (notice that wrapping is just the other way round opposed to the wrappers mentioned above).
I'm not sure if a .NET mobile application would feel native on android, but I'd guess it wouldn't.
Maybe you're interestend in another approach: You can write your application in the Java language. You can then compile it to .NET via Microsoft J# (I know it's discontinued but you can still download and use it) and use the same Java code on android. Again, that's for the core classes aka business logic and again you would have to write tow GUIs. Maybe you can tages J2ME as well, which you will not be able to do if you use .NET.
You're more likely to see an Android implementation of Silverlight. Microsoft rep has confirmed that it's possible, vs. the iPhone where the rep said it was problematic.
But a version of the .Net framework is possible. Just need someone to care about it that much :)
But really, moving from C# to Java isn't that big of a deal and considering the drastic differences between the two platforms (PC vs. G1) it seems unlikely that you'd be able to get by with one codebase for any app that you wanted to run on both.
Yes, it will be possible and it won't be that difficult. All what's needed at this point to start with is some kind of converter that will turn MSIL into Dalvik bytecode. Since both formats are open-sourced and well documented, there won't be any problem with it.
So, writing Android applications in C# or VB.NET will be possible, question is how much of .NET framework standard libraries will be supported. But that's another issue.
Oscar Reyes wrote:
I'm pretty sure if google hand ANY interest in .net, they would've design something while Android was in the first stages, not now when they are in production stages. I don't mean it is not possible, what I'm saying is they're not interested. Maybe in mmm hhhh 10 yrs.
Actually what they've already designed is very compatible with Java and .NET
They can't do everything at once, but if you look into Android SDK, there is a tool called dx. This tool converts Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode, so in other words, you can run programs written in Java on Android with no effort today. Now the same tool is needed for .NET.
Considering how similar .NET and Java are, it's really a matter of time.
ddimitrov wrote:
The .Net->Java->Dalvik translation can be done even now (http://dev.mainsoft.com/), but I think you underestimate the lack of .Net libraries. Of course somebody can port Mono, but it's definitely a non-trivial effort.
No need to port Mono. Android already has VM and some basic API. All what's needed is CIL->Dalvik converter and tiny .NET wrapper for Android API (and maybe some basic implementation of some standard .NET classes). That's it.
Update: .NET already works on Android - you will need product called Monodroid (http://monodroid.net) as stated above.
You're more likely to see an Android implementation of Silverlight. Microsoft rep has confirmed that it's possible, vs. the iPhone where the rep said it was problematic.
But a version of the .Net framework is possible. Just need someone to care about it that much :)
But really, moving from C# to Java isn't that big of a deal and considering the drastic differences between the two platforms (PC vs. G1) it seems unlikely that you'd be able to get by with one codebase for any app that you wanted to run on both.
.NET compact framework has been ported to Symbian OS (http://www.redfivelabs.com/). If .NET as a 'closed' platform can be ported to this platform, I can't see any reason why it cannot be done for Android.
Since this is one of the first links on Google when search for Android and .net support, it is only fitting to post this here.
The mono project is working on a SDK to develop Android applications using CIL languages such as C#. The down side is it will be a commercial product. monodroid
Yes, it will be possible and it won't be that difficult. All what's needed at this point to start with is some kind of converter that will turn MSIL into Dalvik bytecode. Since both formats are open-sourced and well documented, there won't be any problem with it.
So, writing Android applications in C# or VB.NET will be possible, question is how much of .NET framework standard libraries will be supported. But that's another issue.
Oscar Reyes wrote:
I'm pretty sure if google hand ANY interest in .net, they would've design something while Android was in the first stages, not now when they are in production stages. I don't mean it is not possible, what I'm saying is they're not interested. Maybe in mmm hhhh 10 yrs.
Actually what they've already designed is very compatible with Java and .NET
They can't do everything at once, but if you look into Android SDK, there is a tool called dx. This tool converts Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode, so in other words, you can run programs written in Java on Android with no effort today. Now the same tool is needed for .NET.
Considering how similar .NET and Java are, it's really a matter of time.
ddimitrov wrote:
The .Net->Java->Dalvik translation can be done even now (http://dev.mainsoft.com/), but I think you underestimate the lack of .Net libraries. Of course somebody can port Mono, but it's definitely a non-trivial effort.
No need to port Mono. Android already has VM and some basic API. All what's needed is CIL->Dalvik converter and tiny .NET wrapper for Android API (and maybe some basic implementation of some standard .NET classes). That's it.
Update: .NET already works on Android - you will need product called Monodroid (http://monodroid.net) as stated above.
You're more likely to see an Android implementation of Silverlight. Microsoft rep has confirmed that it's possible, vs. the iPhone where the rep said it was problematic.
But a version of the .Net framework is possible. Just need someone to care about it that much :)
But really, moving from C# to Java isn't that big of a deal and considering the drastic differences between the two platforms (PC vs. G1) it seems unlikely that you'd be able to get by with one codebase for any app that you wanted to run on both.
Source: Stackoverflow.com